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The rich, dramatic story of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh--who has his own museum in Amsterdam-- hasn't been brought to life (in English, anyway) in a feature film since Robert Altman's underappreciated Vincent and Theo (1990), starring Tim Roth. Vincente Minnelli's 1956 Lust for Life memorably starred Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh; Anthony Quinn won the supporting actor Oscar as Paul Gauguin. Australian Paul Cox also directed a 1987 documentary on the painter, featuring John Hurt reading his letters (clip below).

So, here we go again. The "saga" of "Paranormal Activity" continues next month with the third installment in the found footage franchise that is pretty much "America's Funniest Home Videos" with the volume jacked and invisible hands moving shit around.

In our interview with Michael Shannon he mentioned a possible cameo in Jeff Nichols' MUD, the third feature from the writer-director, whose first two films, Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter, star Shannon. "Wickedly talented," is how Shannon describes Nichols; "A throwback to the seventies [directors]…one of those guys who just kicks ass."

The combination of words "Dwayne Johnson thriller" and "Susan Sarandon" isn't exactly something we would have expected, but the actress has never been one that is easily pinned down. She's a player with The Lonely Island crew, will appear in "I Hate You Dad" with Adam Sandler next summer, and is currently filming "Cloud Atlas" with The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. So, starring in "Snitch"? Piece of cake.

It’s my pleasure to be filling in for Robert Osborne this week on Turner Classic Movies, but the highlight for me is Wednesday’s tribute to films restored by the Library of Congress. My guest for the evening portion of the salute is Dr. Patrick Loughney, chief of the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpepper, Virginia. We have a chance to discuss four movies playing tomorrow night: the long-unseen The Constant Nymph (1943), the uncensored Baby Face (1932), an oddity from 1934 called Two Heads on a Pillow, and a most unusual version of the 1930 Academy Award-winning classic All Quiet on the Western Front.

Documentary fans nationwide should make plans tonight to attend a special one-night only screening of "Jane's Journey," Lorenz Knauer's surprisingly superb film on Jane Goodall. It's probably the most hopeful and inspiring doc I've seen since "The Interrupters." This film is a little more like an ad for an organization (Roots & Shoots) than even that crowd-pleaser, but it's similarly forgivable for primarily promoting a cause and specific program because it's the sort that just can't be denied (well, as we see in the film, Goodall and her son don't always see eye to eye). Also, like "The Interrupters," "Jane's Journey" is a polished work with great storytelling -- in addition to and regardless of the positive advocacy elements. It's a quiet, respectful biographical portrait of Goodall and the work she's done for chimpanzee and (now) human preservation. It's also filled with gorgeously shot footage from her travels around the world, including new visits to the wild ape habitat of Tanzania, where her career began.

Remember earlier this year when the trailer for the videogame "Dead Island" dropped and every nerd with a controller creamed their pants? And then there was all kinds of premature news about a movie adaptation before the game had even arrived, leading publishers Deep Silver to put the kibosh on the rumors, saying back in February, “We are looking for quality above all else for a movie based on ‘Dead Island.’ We want to do it the right way as film realizations of games (or vice versa) usually fail to deliver what the fans were looking for. We will not go down this route with ‘Dead Island.’ Deep Silver profoundly believes in the quality and value of its Dead Island IP.”

The Gurus have spoken. Post-festivals, Alexander Payne's The Descendants (1) has taken over the frontrunner spot from Steven Spielberg's unscreened period war adventure War Horse (2). Interestingly, Spielberg was considering submitting the film to Venice but decided not to do so. He usually likes to wait until the last possible minute to show his films. It's better NOT to be at the head of the pack, anyway. The Descendants' George Clooney (1) is also at the front of the Best Actor race.